Voting Rights Law Suit Filed Against DTA

The National Voter Registration Act requires DTA to allow SNAP and cash assistance recipients to register to vote at DTA offices or by mail.  DTA field guidance on voter registration protocol is contained in the following DTA Operations Memo: http://www.masslegalservices.org/content/ops-memo-2012-36-tafdc-eaedc-and-snap-%E2%80%93-updated-voter-registration-procedures  However, merely issuing guidance is not sufficient if the local offices are not following required protocol.  

 

The following news blurb is hot off the press from the State House News Service: 

SUIT ALLEGES STATE NOT MEETING VOTER REGISTRATION LAW REQUIREMENTS: Massachusetts has not met its responsibility to offer tens of thousands of public assistance recipients opportunities to register to vote, according to a lawsuit filed by two community groups against Secretary of State William Galvin and the state Department of Transitional Assistance.  Brought by the NAACP New England Area Conference and New England United for Justice, the suit alleged violations of the National Voter Registration Act of 1994.  According to the groups, a section of that law requires state agencies that provide public assistance to assist applicants in registering to vote.  Beth Delgado, a plaintiff in the suit, was not offered the opportunity to register during her interactions with the DTA over several years, according to the two groups.  According to the complaint filed in federal court in Boston, the number of voter registration applications submitted through public assistance offices in Massachusetts was down 92.5 percent in 2009-2010, compared to 1999-2000.  The complaint also alleges that the DTA's internal reporting suggests more than 94 percent of its clients did not receive required voter registration services in 2011.  The plaintiffs are represented by the voting rights group Demos, Project Vote, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights and Economic Justice, and Ropes & Gray LLP.  In a statement, Juan Cofield, president of the New England Area Conference of the NAACP, said, "We're tired of picking up the slack when the state fails our most vulnerable citizens.  So, after years of neglect we decided to sue."  According to the groups behind the suit, public assistance agencies nationwide collected 528,000 voter registration applications in 2005-2006, compared to 2.6 million when the federal law was implemented in 1995-1996. Galvin said his office does not comment on matters pending in court. Alec Loftus, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said: "Voting is one of the most important civic duties, and helping people comply is one of our top priorities. We have received the complaint and are in the process of reviewing it."